”Vestiges & Claws is a fragile, exposed, reassuringly stark meditation on the human condition, with a warmth and life-affirming beauty that successfully ’reminds our restless souls of the beauty of being here at all’.” London In Stereo

”..another collection of equally beautiful songs that are fine company on a quiet night.” London Evening Standard

“José Gonzalez has been producing consistently brilliant, honest and moving music for a long time now and I can’t see that changing any time soon.” The 405

Since releasing ‘In Our Nature’ in 2007, José González has been steadily collecting riffs and ideas for new songs.

An album consisting of seven years’ worth of musical sketches might naturally sprawl wildly in production and style, but on ‘VESTIGES & CLAWS’ González has created a collection of songs that cohere just about perfectly. It travels from the glowering, riff-driven ‘Stories We Build, Stories We Tell’ via the groovy ‘Leaf Off / The Cave’ to the anthemic ‘Every Age’. For those familiar with José’s earlier work there is little doubt as to who is behind these recordings.

Where José’s previous albums, ‘Veneer’ and ‘In Our Nature’, might have sounded sparse and barren in parts, ‘Vestiges & Claws’ has an altogether new feeling to it, at once warmer and darker than before.

“I started out thinking that I wanted to continue in the same minimalistic style as on my two previous records,” says José. “But once I started the actual recordings I soon realized that most of the songs turned out better with added guitars and a more beat-like percussion, and with more backing vocals. Personally, I think this made it a more interesting and varied album.”

José has been far from idle in the seven years since the release of ‘In Our Nature’. Besides making two Junip albums and touring the world both solo and with the band, González has been active in the studio in various contexts.

For instance, the track ’Far Away’ in the game ’Red Dead Redemption’ was awarded ”Best Song In A Game” at the Spike Video Game Awards in Los Angeles in 2010.

José was also heavily involved in the soundtrack to the Hollywood film ’The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty’, by and starring Ben Stiller, premiering early 2014. Most notably the tracks ’Step Out’ and ’Stay Alive’.